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Potential Capability (potential + capability)
Selected AbstractsLaser Raman spectroscopic investigations of biodegradable vehicle of active agents eluting LVM 316 stainless steel cardiovascular stents for in vivo degradation characteristicsJOURNAL OF RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY, Issue 4 2010S. K. Sudheer Abstract Laser Raman spectroscopy is an effective tool for the study of biodegradable polymers, which play a vital role in the new developments in coronary implants such as stents. There is much excitement around the potential capabilities of synthetic biodegradable polymers and the effect they will have on the design and function of implanted devices. In the present investigation, heparin-conjugated biodegradable copolymers were evaluated for their durability as drug-eluting stent coatings. Laser Raman spectroscopic studies were carried out and spectra recorded and analyzed of explanted stents coated with different amounts of polymer alone, showing the existence of different levels at different quantities of polymer. The polymer was detected on every stent analyzed. On the stents coated with a thick layer of polymer, a firm layer of polymer still existed on the stent. In contrast, this layer was degraded and spread around on the stents coated with only a thin layer of the polymer. This indicates that the polymers used in the stents in the present investigation exhibit acceptable biodegradability. Such polymers can be used as efficient drug carriers, as these materials show good degradation after the stipulated period. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Cost-Affordable Technique Involving Equal Channel Angular Pressing for the Manufacturing of Ultrafine Grained Sheets of an Al,Li,Mg,Sc Alloy,ADVANCED ENGINEERING MATERIALS, Issue 8 2010Rustam Kaibyshev A two-step process consisting of modified equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) and subsequent isothermal rolling (IR) was developed to produce thin sheets of aluminum alloys with ultra-fine grained (UFG) structure. Significant increase in the efficiency of ECAP was attained by using flat billets and a back pressure system. The incorporation of final IR into technologic route provides a reduced strain which is necessary to impose for the fabrication of thin sheets with UFG structure. In addition, it allows producing relatively "long billets." In order to demonstrate the feasibility of this technique an Al,5.1Mg,2.1Li,0.17Sc,0.08Zr (wt %) alloy was subjected to ECAP at 325,°C to a total strain of ,8 using processing route CX. The operation time of this processing did not exceed 15,min. Subsequent IR at the same temperature with a total reduction of 88% was applied to produce thin sheets with a 1.8,mm thickness and an average size of recrystallized grains of ,1.6,µm. These sheets exhibit extraordinary high superplastic ductilities. In addition, this material demonstrated almost isotropic mechanical behavior at room temperature. The maximum elongation-to-failure of ,2700% was attained at a temperature of 450,°C and an initial strain rate of 1.4,×,10,2 s,1. Thus it was demonstrated that the two-step processing consisting of ECAP with a back pressure followed by IR was a simple technique providing potential capability for the fabrication of superplastic sheets from an Al,Mg,Li,Sc alloy on a commercial scale. [source] Jaques and the early years in AustraliaINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOANALYTIC STUDIES, Issue 4 2005Sir Roderick Carnegie Abstract The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of any organization, by the nature of his or her title and role, sets the culture (the "how we do things around here") which becomes either paranoiagenic or trust-inducing to greater or lesser extremes. This account of one CEO emphasizes the relationships between past managerial experiences, the business requirements of a highly competitive industry, the nature of the impact of local government on globally dispersed installations, and an intense interest in bringing together a better understanding of trust-inducing top-down managerial leadership. Thus follows an examination of one CEO's journey with a nascent body of research and the researcher as, together, they struggle with understanding what requirements and actions will be interpreted as not only "good for the company" but also "good for me" as an employee. The paper describes the added value of a CEO's systematic organizational analysis and structural design of a managerial work system focused on the employment of the discretion and judgment of each employee within appropriate role boundaries, thereby inserting a large amount of psychologically sound, creative problem-solving focused on competitive business outcomes. It develops understanding of the business reasons for fair pay for levels of work assigned, and the recognition of current potential capability and development of individuals as they naturally mature in future potential capability to handle more complex assignments. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Stacked partial least squares regression analysis for spectral calibration and predictionJOURNAL OF CHEMOMETRICS, Issue 10 2009Wangdong Ni Abstract Two novel algorithms which employ the idea of stacked generalization or stacked regression, stacked partial least squares (SPLS) and stacked moving-window partial least squares (SMWPLS) are reported in the present paper. The new algorithms establish parallel, conventional PLS models based on all intervals of a set of spectra to take advantage of the information from the whole spectrum by incorporating parallel models in a way to emphasize intervals highly related to the target property. It is theoretically and experimentally illustrated that the predictive ability of these two stacked methods combining all subsets or intervals of the whole spectrum is never poorer than that of a PLS model based only on the best interval. These two stacking algorithms generate more parsimonious regression models with better predictive power than conventional PLS, and perform best when the spectral information is neither isolated to a single, small region, nor spread uniformly over the response. A simulation data set is employed in this work not only to demonstrate this improvement, but also to demonstrate that stacked regressions have the potential capability of predicting property information from an outlier spectrum in the prediction set. Moisture, oil, protein and starch in Cargill corn samples have been successfully predicted by these new algorithms, as well as hydroxyl number for different instruments of terpolymer samples including and excluding an outlier spectrum. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Antecedents of two-photon excitation laser scanning microscopyMICROSCOPY RESEARCH AND TECHNIQUE, Issue 1 2004Barry R. Masters Abstract In 1931, Maria Göppert-Mayer published her doctoral dissertation on the theory of two-photon quantum transitions (two-photon absorption and emission) in atoms. This report describes and analyzes the theoretical and experimental work on nonlinear optics, in particular two-photon excitation processes, that occurred between 1931 and the experimental implementation of two-photon excitation microscopy by the group of Webb in 1990. In addition to Maria Göppert-Mayer's theoretical work, the invention of the laser has a key role in the development of two-photon microscopy. Nonlinear effects were previously observed in different frequency domains (low-frequency electric and magnetic fields and magnetization), but the high electric field strength afforded by lasers was necessary to demonstrate many nonlinear effects in the optical frequency range. In 1978, the first high-resolution nonlinear microscope with depth resolution was described by the Oxford group. Sheppard and Kompfner published a study in Applied Optics describing microscopic imaging based on second-harmonic generation. In their report, they further proposed that other nonlinear optical effects, such as two-photon fluorescence, could also be applied. However, the developments in the field of nonlinear optical stalled due to a lack of a suitable laser source. This obstacle was removed with the advent of femtosecond lasers in the 1980s. In 1990, the seminal study of Denk, Strickler, and Webb on two-photon laser scanning fluorescence microscopy was published in Science. Their paper clearly demonstrated the capability of two-photon excitation microscopy for biology, and it served to convince a wide audience of scientists of the potential capability of the technique. Microsc. Res. Tech. 63:3,11, 2004. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] | ||||||||||